Public Leger, Volume 1, Number 14, Richmond, Wayne County, 12 June 1824 — Page 1

t i jrjc s t i r2

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FRIENDLY TO THOUGHT, TO FREEDOM, AND TO PACE." Coicper.

XUMBER 14.

RICHMOND, WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA, SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 1824.

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: llOUSEOF REPRESENTATIVES. FRIDAY, MAY 7. Jleir.ark. n n !e by Mr. Test, on the pawapr ofthe B. l to nntt.v-nzo the creation of a stock to any utunt, not exceeding live millions of dollars. Mr. Speaker: I have very seldom intruded mvself upon this House, and nothing, sir. hut the firmest conviction, that to VAilent would he a direliction of my duty, Xould induce me, at this time, to ask the inherence of the House to offer a few remarks upon the subject under consideration.! am called upon by the bill upon Jour t'iMe to vote away five millions ol the .'op!cV raoaev.and such is the repugnance f niv mi:d to the feature and principles 'f that bill, that I feci myself called upon every consideration of justice and sound jk'Hcv. t pi tee upon it my solemn veto. I shall endeavor to condense my ideas into s few words as possible, to render my sell ' litelliu'ible; and although I cannot hope, jo charge the opinion of a single member pf this House, after the protracted discuslion wijicii the subject has undergone, yet

I cannot feel that I shall have dune justice

tt my country if I pass it by in silence. Tae charge against the government, to the ex!i-:ruinrtjeit cf which the moneys in?,t :: ivd to he raised by the operation ofthe jpront hill, is to be applied, aries out of la treaty concluded between the U. States the persons exercising the governJra it of Spain in the. year 1819, w herein

it i- stipulated between the two power?, t'. it ''the government of the U. S. shall t iy to if- own citizens, a sum not exceeding Li. millions of dollars, for spoliations comr:.;K d u;on our commerce, and unlawful f :.urc:s made by Spain, of the propeity of

cur ciuz-ts; the payment to be made im-m--liatelv "at the Treasury, or bv the ereol stock, bearing an interest of six percent, per annum, payable out of the ..,-a !,.,iM... r AL i.. . i fi,.

i j i H vu5i in- saies oi me lanus in r lonI da., or in such other manner as the Conj gre.- ol tlic u. S. may by law pr scribe;,, i tae-r pawner.tsto be made "after certain

ccnirai?ior.ers, named in the trcatv, ora

majority of them, shall have adjusted and rdlr.v. ed the claims," w hich claim?, it is admitted on all hands.never have, as yet,been adjusted and allowed, and which have

I ';'n under consideration about 3 years. I I iie decision of this miration depends in

r;irt upon the construction which may be I pven to the above clause ofthe treaty ,and ti.e piAu proper to be pursued under that cor .vru( tj(iru Icr;rc? XVO general ques-

iH rrf:;f 1,1 themselves for our considerai l5t What is the proper construction to be given to this treat v? and 2d,

'vnat shall be a correct policy to be pursu-

"'ur.iier that construction ? In the solution oi the first question, it becomes necessity to inquire, what were the motives or causes which led to the making of or cnt nn- into, the treaty? What is the na-t'-ie ol the obligation imposed upon the c-.itractmg parties? and lastly, what rights the claimants derive under it? There are two leading causes or motives for makj;;ai'd entering into treaties between naCjli( 1 i ,f - iritilrn rvilI ......

l ie. fur tlii. : I ..!. .: c

luemlly relations already subsisting betv;ecn the parties; the other is of a nature ei-e and hostile, for the separation of

i 11 'um r tfnsuhichonce subsisted bet;h'im, but which had been broken

'"y:a wr a redrew of uricvances which . 14 5ur!",cd !urig the suspension of luy.-elnencdy relations, and comes in place it war. In the last general class of cautllcre ma' various motives for er."ng into a treaty with a foreign power as when ycu are totally incapable of contending on equal grounds for the want of

an adequate forte, or the want of the due preparation, or, where the nation with

which you contend, has nothing to indemnify you forgoing to war; and when, from their peculiar situation, to go to war with I them, whould not add to your honor or I your present or future safety; and under all or any of these circumstances, the most powerful nation would find a sufficient moj tivc, and be fairly warranted in making a ; treaty, inadequate to the purposes of equal

retribution and indemnification. The causes which led to the making of the treaty under consideration seem to be of the latter kind; that is, for the reparation of friendly relations which once subsisted between this government and Spain, and for the redress of grievances which occurred during the suspension of those friendly relations; and is expressed in the treaty to be for spoliations committed on our commerce, or u unlawful seizures made by Spain of the property of our citizens." As the causes or motives which led to the promulgation of this treaty are only adverted to as matters of reference in its construction, and as they are set out in the treaty itself, it would seem a waste of time

(which has now become very precious) to go into a detail ofthe various aggressions which induced this government to call upon Spain for indemnity, and more especiall y as every honorable centleman in this House must be acquainted with them. The next inquiry which occurs is, what

is the nature of the obligation imposed up-

on me contracting parties. twerv treaty

I comprehends several duties or obligations.

1 hose which arises between the contracting powers as. bodies politic; those which exist between the citizens or subjects of those powers ; those which subsist betu een the respective governments, and the citizens or subjects of each power; and those which are common to the government its own citizens or subjects. Without going very deeply into abstract reasonings, it seems necessary to inquire a little into the nature of governments, to come to a correct conclusion upon the case before us. Man in a state ol" nature, independent of all political regulations, is bound to act honestly toward his fellow-man, and to do him all the good he

can without subjecting himself to an injury ; hence, where one man in this state of existence dors another an injury, that other has a right to indemnity in some mode allowed by the law of nature: and, under such circumstances, might redress his own But, having entered into the so-

rial compact, he is precluded from doing I so: and, being so precluded, he has a right ! to call upon his government to do that for

hun winch he is not at liberty to do for himself; but, at the same time that he has a right to call upon his government to re-

i dress wrongs committed against him by j other governments or their subjects, he j has no right to expect any other repara-

I Hon than that which he himself could have j obtained, with competent power toenforce his claim; or, in other words, he can have j no claim to an indemnity from his own i Kovcrnment which would not have been in j the power ofthe aggressor to make. The i examination of these principles will lead I to a correct understanding of the obliga

tion wincn the govcrment is under to those claimants for whose benefit the money in this bill is to be applied. Let us for a moment refer to the relative situation of the government to those claimants, and see how they stand toward each other. It is a well established, fundamental principle ofthe social system, that a man gives up a share of his natural rights and privileges, that he may have the remainder better secured to him; and one of those privileges which he surrenders as before hinted.is his right to redress his own wrongs ; and having given up that privilege, he has a right to expect of his government to redress

them, so far as shall be convenient anil pro

per, taking into view every circumstance connected with its accomplishment. The government therefore takes upon itself the task of red resting the wrongs of its subjects or citizens, agreeably to the princi

ples before stated, keeping always m view the good of the whole community. Therefore, when it makes a treaty with an aggressing power, it is its duty "to provide for its own indemnity, and the indemnity of all its subjects, if convenient, and reasonably practicable; hence it becomes a protector or guardian for them, not only to see that other nations do them justice, hut to do them justice itself; and from this paternal protecting character, and none other, arises all the claims which its citizens or

subjects have upon it; and for the purpose of carrying into effect all its functions with the greater facility, it is divided into departments, each of which has assigned to it certain limited and defined powers, and which every other department, as well as every citizen, is bound to respect, confide in, and submit to, so long as it acts within the sphere of its own authority; among these departments, or divisions of government, is the treaty-making power, & which is as perfect and absolute in the exercise of its various functions, and is entitled to as much deference as any other power acting

within the scope of its authority ; and when ! that tower has been exerted upon a par-

j ticular occasion, its act is binding, not on

ly on those immediately connected with the transaction, but upon the whole community. Having examined the general powers of the government, and its duties tow ards individuals who compose it, so far as they seem necessary for my purpose, I w ill apply those principles to the case before us, and see what will be the result. If I have laid down a single principle w hich is not substantially warranted by the authorities, or which will not stand the test of ethical analysis, I shall be open to correction and conviction by honorable gentlement oppoed to Tne. In this case, then, the government of Spain has made unlawful seizures ofthe property of th,e claimants; this government, as the guardian and protector of their rights, has interposed between them

I and Spain, and concluded the treaty now under consideration, to indemnify and remunerate them for losses sustained, in consequence of such unlawful seizures. For i the clear understanding of the nature of the obligation of the government to those

claimants, it will be necessary to give the several clauses of this treaty a separate and distinct consideration. As it regards the adequacy or inadequacy ofthe redress secured by it to those claimants; or, in other words, whether it be a provident or improv

ident treaty, I conceive is not a subject for

our present consideration. If, however, 1

, were to give an opinion, I should say we

had a right to presume it was the best that

could have been gotten at the time. I hen is no honorable gentleman in this Houst

mat does not know the deranged nav.

the miserable, vassal, and bankrupt condi

tion of that nation at the time it w as made. And although it may suit some honorable

gentlemen to decry the treaty and the trea

ty-makers, I am disposed to make the least

of the one, and think the most charitably

ofthe others. Vet, however improvident

the whole treaty may be, and inadequate

the redress to the claimants, it is not for us now to change the nature of the former,

or make up the deficiency in the latter; a duty has devolved upon us to carry it into

effect according to the terms of it, as the treaty-making power has laid them down for that having passed upon it, it is con-

clu-ive with us. It is a co-ordinate branch

ofthe government, it has its powers to ex ercise, and its duties to perform: and hav

ing performed them, it is not for us to violate our trust by trampling upon its au

thority, even if it had acted wrong; lor,by

so doing,we should make ourselvcsariWpj criminis. If the honorable gentlemen who signed this treaty have looked over the interest of these claimants, and have taken an insufficient indemnity, let the responsibility rest with them; let us do our duty, and carry it into effect, in the manner they have prescribed. It was their duty to make the treaty, it is ours to carry it into effect according to its terms. The honorable gentleman from N. York cannot see in this treaty a tripple alternative; I think 1

can very plainly see a double one. The language ofthe treaty is: "The government may, after the commissioners shall have admitted and allowed the claims to an amount not exceeding five millions of dollars, pay them immediately at the treas

ury, or in the creation of stock at six per

centum per annum, payable from the proceeds of sales ofthe public lands in the territories cctled, or in such other manner as the Congress of the United States may prescribe by law." If these, then, are the terms ofthe treaty, what is the duty of the government resulting from it, as regards the claimants? It is the duty of the government now to discharge its obligations to the claimants in good faith, according to equity and justice. Obligations between the government and the people are like all other obligations, and ought to he be construed like them. I lay down the following, as correct rules

of construction with regard to contracts: All implied contracts of which this is one are to be construed according to equity and natural justice, taking into consideration all the circumstances connected with tho transaction, or that thing which forms the consideration for making it. That each has a right to have it performed according to his reasonable expectation. That in express contracts, where there is an alternative, or more than one mode of discharging them, the obliger has a right to select which of the modes he pleases; but when he has selected his mode,or made his choice, he is not at liberty afte.-wards to change it without the consent of the obliged. I further lay it down, as a fundamental principle with regard to trusts and trustees that the trustee can never be made accountable beyond the value ofthe trust estate, and that where money is to be paid out of a certain or uncertain fund, you can never make the trustee or holder of the fund pay the money out of his own estate: and in no case can he be required to pay it until it becomes due. Here, then, it appears clearly by the terms of the treaty, that the government intended to reserve to itself the right to take into its own hands the fund out of which this money was to be paid, if circumstances would seem to warrant it that is, if it should a ppeaithe lands were likely to turn out a productive fund, the object of the government, n6 doubt, was to hold the land and pay the money immediately at the Treasury, or in such other manner as Congress might pre scribe. Several reasons for such construe4, tion urge themselves upon the mind with great force. It is said, by an honorable gentleman on the side ofthe question with myself, who is somewhat acquainted with its geography, that although it is called ua land of flowers," it is, in fact, a land of sand-heaps, musquitos, frogs, serpents, and alligators. I know nothing of it myself except what I have gathered from the general history of the country. But, 1 presume, its history or geography at the time of the purchase, was very little known, which rendered its value very uncertain indeed; besides which, it may be recollected, that by that same treaty, a part of that beautiful country, west and south of the Sabine river, and said to be more valuable than all the Floridas, was ceded to

Spain as a part ofthe consideration for making the treaty leaving it, indeed, very doubtful whether all tie lands ceded to the U. S. w ould be more than sufficient to justify the demands of those claimants. Again, it does appear evident, that something of this kind must have borne weight with the treaty makers, as they have only undertaken by the treaty to secure to the claimants, a sum of not more than five nullions of dollars leaving the balance,which is said, by some, to amount to more than ten millions, to future negociation or total abandonmcnt, guarding very cautiously , all the time, against pledging the government, in any shape, for more than five millions of dollars. And, further, for the very purpose of meeting the contingent or uncertain value ofthe Florida lands, they introduced the optional provision in the treaty before alluded to, which secures to the government the right to keep those lands, should they be foui d valuable, as an indemnity for the cession of the lands beyond the Sabine; and at the same time to exclude the idea of a responsibility beyond the value of the Florida lands. The Floridas, while underthe dominion of Spain,had already occasioned a hiatus in our sovereignty along the Gulf. To obtain pos

session of it, therefore, was considered a

matter of great importance ; and, no doubt, a sacrifice of a portion of land bey ond the Sabine was made for the purpose of ac

complishing an object of so much importance to the government as that of securing the control of a maritime frontier, from the northern extremity of Maine to the mouth ofthe Sabine. I think, then, I am

fan Jy warranted in saying, that considering every circumstance connected with the transaction, the deranged and impoverished condition of Spain, the probability of her total incapacity to make any reparation for injuries done us, the peculiar situation of the Floridas in relation to the LJ. Stat cs, and the necessity of taking them, or nothing. This country, at the time, still bleeding with wounds inflicted by arecent war, the facility which its possession by a foreign power gave to drain the southern country of its black population, tfie miserable imbecility and corruption of the TO BE CONTINUED.

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